Bother
by caitlin4
Summary: Angst about Luke and Lorelai, eventually will be romance, complete
1. bother

The alarm mooed Lorelai out of bed, groaning she rolled over and smacked the cow's ass to shut it off. This morning, like any other morning came way to close to the time Lorelai finally went to bed following the Osbornes marathon that she'd gotten hooked on while waiting up for Rory.

It seemed she was doing more and more of that lately, it was a little daunting when you reached that age where the torch was passed from mother to daughter. Lorelai seemed to do everything faster than normal people do, first she had a baby years before she should have and consequently she was facing the prospect of being finished earlier.

Rory was becoming the young woman Lorelai had raised her to be and with college, fast approaching Lorelai was learning that letting go of a child was never easy, no matter how old you were. 

Lorelai was still struggling to face the facts that soon Rory would move out and she would be alone. Being one to overdramatize, Lorelai's mind immediately jumped to thoughts of being an old maid and realistically she wasn't really facing any romantic prospects. Things with Alex had fizzled out before things got serious and Lorelai just wasn't up to facing the single scene anymore. That left her here, climbing out of a queen sized bed, shuffling to the shower, turning the radio on as she goes and singing aloud as she prepares for the day.

As mother and daughter go through their familiar routines and rush to Luke's for coffee and breakfast before work and school respectively, Lorelai pauses to think about just how many more times they will be doing this. 

Trying not to be maudlin, she doesn't voice these worries to Rory. She feels a combination of sad and proud at the same time, she's anxious to watch Rory grow to her full potential but sad that this period of her life is over. 

The bell announcing their arrival rings as they push the door to Luke's open and take a spot by the window. Lorelai has been thinking about these daily routines, not merely because soon she'll be doing them alone, but because of the comfort she takes in them and why. 

Lorelai has never been a creature of habit yet day after day she finds herself performing these tasks habitually. She wasn't sure when it started, when she was younger she longed for a life where she could just do whatever she wanted whenever she felt like doing it. Having Rory didn't cause this either; it seemed to just have started over time. 

She moved to this town and grew increasingly accustomed to fulfilling these daily tasks; lately she had even begun to get excited for them. In her head at work she would plot out things to say when she made her afternoon coffee stop by Luke's and sometimes find herself predicting his response. She was usually right, over the years of getting to know each other they had developed a sort of repertoire that allowed them to predict each others responses, atleast she could his. She wasn't sure if Luke sat around thinking of things she might say to him, so he could come up with answers.

Her predictions had been a little off lately; she hadn't really been able to attribute it to anything in particular. She chalked it up to the stress of knowing Rory is leaving soon, but sometimes in the back of her head, she blamed it on Nicole, Luke's girlfriend. Ever since he had started dating her, the relationship between he and Lorelai had been a little off.

The relationship had never been anything more than platonic, it kind of bothered Lorelai that the dynamic had been thrown off when he got a girlfriend, what did that say about her and Luke? When Sookie and Jackson started dating it didn't really change Lorelai and Sookie's friendship, there may have been a little less time for them to hang out together, but the relationship remained intact. 

Lorelai had always counted on her relationship with Luke being the same, now it suddenly wasn't, and it _really_ bothered her.


	2. stolen coffee

Forcing herself to move on Lorelai finished her breakfast and was out the door to work, yelling bye to Luke as she left. 

The inn was bustling as she walked through the doors, Michel on the phone and checking people in and a stream of muffled yells coming from the kitchen where Sookie was no doubt creating something wondrous. 

Before she knew it Lorelai was lost in the easy habits of running the inn and her Luke dilemma was replaced in her head, albeit briefly.

Hours later, after the inn was managed and the tension from her neck had moved up to her neck Lorelai decided to call it a day and headed home, making a pit stop for coffee on the way.

"Lucas!" she yells drowning out the ringing of the bell, "I need coffee!" 

Heading to the counter Lorelai sets her purse down and looks around, not seeing Luke anywhere, when he doesn't appear Lorelai steps behind the counter. After very slowly takes a cup and without a sound pours a large cup of coffee. 

Luke's steps startle her as she's about to take a drink and inevitably, Lorelai drops her ill-gotten gains. "Damn it!" Lorelai mutters as she squats behind the counter searching for a rag. Luke comes through the door and is startled to see Lorelai. 

"What the hell? Lorelai? What are you doing?" Lorelai smiles up at him sheepishly as he bends down to help her clean the mess. 

"You were hiding, so I got my own coffee, then you made me drop it." They both clean quietly for a few minutes. 

Lorelai finally breaks the silence. "So the diner's pretty empty." 

Luke stops and looks at Lorelai, "I closed up early, I hadn't locked the door yet." 

Lorelai looks up, her blue eyes sparkling, "Hot date tonight, Lucas?" 

Luke looks up at her, she feels her heart quicken in anticipation, and that bothers her. He averted eyes before answering, "Actually yes." 

Lorelai's face falters slightly but she fixes one of her trademark smiles on before Luke noticed. 

"Well don't I feel like an idiot, here I am trying to steal coffee when you're trying to leave. Let me get out of here and let you go." She rises quickly, leaving Luke gazing at her knees.

He stands up quickly, his mouth open to tell her it's fine, there's no rush, but by the time he's up all can see is the door shutting and her brisk walk leading her home. Bewildered Luke turns to grab his jacket and leave when he sees her purse sitting on the counter.

Lorelai's halfway home when she realizes her purse is still sitting on the counter at Luke's, she quickly blows it off, knowing she'll be there tomorrow morning. 

She's walking faster than usual, her mind racing, why did she get so mad when Luke told her he had a date? 

She should be happy for him, he's happy, Nicole seems nice. _Maybe I'm a horrible person, I can't be happy for one of my best friends when he's in love._

When the thought of Luke being in love with Nicole enters her mind her stomach drops to the floor. 

Rory can tell something is wrong with her mother as soon as she walks in the door. Her usually lively eyes seem dull and her usually smiling smile is pulled down into a stern frown.

"Mom, are you okay?" Her daughter's voice jostles Lorelai out of her thoughts and into reality.


	3. redford or newman?

Lorelai plasters a smile on her face, "Hey sweets. I'm fine, just plotting ways to torture Michel tomorrow. What's up? Have a lot of homework?" Lorelai hung her jacket on a hook in the hall and joined Rory in the living room, taking a spot on the couch. 

Rory shrugged her shoulders as she answered her mother, "Actually no, I had some reading but I got most of it done on the bus. So what do you want to do tonight?" 

Lorelai raised an eyebrow at Rory, "No plans with Burgerboy jr.? I'm surprised." Lorelai shrugged her shoulders before going on. 

"We could go to Al's and a movie. I think 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid' is playing. We can drool over Newman and Redford." With the plans set, the girls go get ready.

Ten minutes later Lorelai remembered her forgotten purse. "Damn! Rory is Jess at the diner? I stopped by earlier and left my purse there." 

Rory stuck her head out of her room, where she was putting on a sweater, "No, he's working, won't Luke be there anyway?" 

Lorelai began looking in her coat pocket for cash. "No he's on a date. Do you have any cash? If not we may have to alter our plans." 

Rory joins Lorelai in the entry way, "Yeah, I've got it covered, as long as you don't go overboard at Al's." 

Lorelai pulls her coat on, giving Rory an admonishing look; "Me go overboard? You must be joking." The girls head out the door and onto dinner.

Lorelai is groaning is they walk from Al's to the movie theater, "Why did you let me order so much? I'm not sure if I'll be able to sit in the movie, I may have to lay in the aisle, do you think anyone will mind?" 

Rory pulls her mother forward by her arm, "Only Kirk, he 'needs the leg room' that's why he needs an empty seat on each side of him." Lorelai nods as they turn into the theater, Rory buys two tickets and leads her mother inside.

After finding two seats in the back, Lorelai and Rory settle in ready to enjoy two movie stars in their prime. Lorelai starts to relax and is relieved that the movie will allow her a two-hour reprieve from her internal debate about Luke. 

That stops immediately when she sees Luke and Nicole walk in, she immediately feels her muscle tense and she's confused again. The movie starts soon after and Paul Newman's eyes take Luke out of her mind.

After the movie they're walking slowly back to the house, debating who was cuter, Paul or Robert. 

Bickering between themselves they hardly notice Nicole and Luke, who are walking a few steps ahead of them, it's not until Nicole turns to add her opinion that Lorelai sees them. 

"Personally, I think it's Redford all the way, blonde hair and blue eyes are a killer combo." Nicole says as she turns slightly and smiles at them. 

Rory nods her head emphatically, "That's what I'm saying, but the crazy lady keeps saying Newman's eyes smile and he has a killer sense of humor or something." 

Tense again, Lorelai rolls her eyes before defending herself, "The man is hysterical and his eyes are gorgeous, they crinkle when he smiles." 

They ladies agree to disagree and continue along their way, Luke interjects again a few minutes later, "Lorelai, you left your purse at the diner earlier, do you want to come by and get it? We're on our way back there." 

Lorelai is quiet for a second, "Umm, no I'm kind of tired, I can grab it tomorrow." Luke looks at her a little strange and shrugs his shoulders, the group splits soon after and the girls continue home.

"Mom, are you sure you're okay? You've been really quiet all night, even during the movie." Lorelai and Rory are walking into the house as Rory broaches the subject again. 

She knows something is wrong, she's silently willing her mother to give in and tell her. Lorelai sees the pleading in her daughter's eyes and succumbs.

Pulling Rory into the living room she sits on the sofa and pulls her legs up underneath her facing Rory. "Okay kiddo, you know I'm your crazy mother, right?" Rory nods. 

"So, I've been feeling crazier then usual and having these wacko thoughts that are making me feel a little off." Lorelai pauses before continuing. "I was at Luke's and started feeling a little angry." 

"Angry at Luke? Did he withhold coffee?" Rory asks.

"No, angry at Nicole because Luke and I haven't been talking as much and I can only think that it is because of her, I mean what else could it be?" Lorelai says this all rapidly and is out of breath for a few minutes waiting for Rory's response. 

"So you're jealous?" Lorelai looks shocked. "That's what it sounds like, Luke isn't paying as much attention to you and it's upsetting you. You're jealous of the time he's spending with Nicole because it is taking time away from you." 

Lorelai looks slightly dumbfounded, "I never thought of it like that. I guess jealous and Luke doesn't go together in my head, it's not like Luke and I are anything but friends. Isn't it weird that I'm not happier for him?" 

Rory pats Lorelai's arm, "it doesn't mean you're not happy for him, it just means that you miss him. It's throwing off you routine. Go to sleep it'll be better in the morning." Rory walks towards her room, saying goodnight over her shoulder.

Lorelai sits on the couch, thinking about what Rory suggested. _Am I jealous?_ It doesn't seem right. 

Luke is happy and she wants to be happy for him. They seem good together and it's been a few months now so they must be getting serious. 

A pit begins forming in Lorelai's stomach, what if Luke and Nicole get married, will she move into the diner? Will Luke move away? 

Lorelai doesn't want to think about that happening, but once the though enters her head she can't make it go away. Instead it starts growing and suddenly Lorelai finds herself near tears. 

She rises suddenly and walks out the front door, a 

determined look on her face, she has to talk to Luke.


	4. talking change

Lorelai walks quickly through the town, she feels almost desperate to talk things out with Luke. 

He has this way of making her feel better when she can't figure things out. He seems to know what to say to make her feel better. She hopes he can do that now.

The diner is dark as Lorelai approaches it, no sign of Luke or Nicole. She knocks loudly hoping Luke will hear her. 

She sees a light come on in the back and soon Luke comes down the stairs in jeans and a t-shirt. He looks at Lorelai oddly, surprised to see her. 

"Lorelai, what's wrong?" He asks as he opens the door to her. 

She shrugs her shoulders and walks into the diner. "I don't know, nothing? Everything? I needed to talk to you." 

He locks the door and turns to Lorelai. "Okay, talk." He looks worried; he motions her to sit down, which she does. 

"Luke, we're friends right?" Luke rolls his eyes and nods, prompting Lorelai to continue, "Things have just been bothering me lately and I feel like we're not the same. Like it's changing and it's bothering me." 

She looks at Luke's face pleadingly. "I don't know, it just feels like something is wrong. Talk please."

Luke looks perplexed as he sits down across from Lorelai. "I don't know, I guess things are different for some reason, but not necessarily wrong." Luke struggles to find words, talking is not his forte. 

Lorelai gives him a small smile, her sad eyes not changing. "You're not going to get married and move way are you?" 

Luke's eyes widen, "What the hell? What are you talking about Lorelai?" 

Lorelai gets up to avoid Luke's eyes and starts pacing through the empty diner. 

"I was just thinking about why I was mad and then I started thinking that you and Nicole might get married and then you'll move away and won't be here anymore. I think that's the only logical explanation for what's going on in my head." Lorelai speaks rapid-fire, relieved to get the thoughts out of her head. 

Luke stands and grabs her shoulders to stop her pacing, "Lorelai that doesn't make any sense. Nicole and I aren't getting married, but if we do, I won't move away. Does that make you feel better?" 

Lorelai's eyes fill with tears; she turns her head so Luke doesn't see. She crosses to the counter where her purse is still sitting. 

Picking it up she fights back tears, "Yeah that helps, thanks." She turns to walk towards the door when Luke grabs her arm.

"You don't seem fine." He turns her toward him and is surprised when he sees the tears in her eyes, "Damnit Lorelai, what's wrong?" 

She shrugs her shoulders as tears fall down her cheeks, "I don't know!" she yells, "I have no idea, maybe I'm going through a mid-life crisis or something. I just don't like it, I feel like everything is changing, you, Rory, me and I don't like it." 

Luke's mind is reeling right now; Lorelai is standing in the diner crying about some guy, as she does often, but this time the guy is him. 

He's not sure whether to be proud for having some effect on her or to feel like crap for making her feel so bad. 

They are standing close now, Lorelai still crying, and Luke struggling for words to calm her. He can't help but pull her closer and wrap his arms around her to comfort her. 

His gruff voice breaks the quiet, "Lorelai, whatever happens around here, I am not changing. I'm still Luke, you're still Lorelai, and this diner will still be here. Hell Lorelai, the only thing changing around here is the weather, Stars Hollow will always be Stars Hollow."

Lorelai looks up at Luke hopefully, tears making her eyes sparkle in the moonlight, "Really?" 

Luke looks down at her, "really, Lorelai." She can't help but hug him in the darkened diner. 

Before she can stop herself she wraps her arms around his neck and pulls him close to her. "Good, because I couldn't handle it if you weren't Luke anymore." 

He laughs a little, a throaty laugh and allows himself to be hugged. 

She hugs him for a few minutes longer, feeling better than she has in a few days. As they start to pull apart, she closes her mouth, not knowing what she's going to say.

He looks down on her expectantly waiting for what's about to come next. She's also waiting for what comes next, unsure of what she's doing. 

Before she knows it she's kissing him pulling his 

mouth onto hers hungrily and soon he's kissing her too.


	5. procon

Lorelai's heart is pounding and her mind is racing. _What's going on here? What am I doing?_

She can't stop herself or the kiss and before either of them realizes it, it escalates.

Luke's hands are roaming across Lorelai causing shivers and goosebumps all over her body and Lorelai's arms are pulling him closer, her fingers pushing his cap off and brushing through his hair. 

They stumble backwards, away from the still locked door and lean against the counter as this kiss continues, after a few more minutes they pull away. 

Luke's heart feels like it's going to pound out of his chest and Lorelai's face is red and flushed from the intensity of their kiss.

"Um…well…" Lorelai stumbles around her usually quick wit abandoning her. 

Luke is also at a loss for words, his hear still racing he takes a deep breath. "That was…unexpected." 

Lorelai can't stop herself from staring at Luke, seeing him in a completely new way. 

Luke can't bring himself to look at Lorelai; afraid she'll see the hope that must be dancing in his eyes.

They're both glued to the floor, neither knowing what to say, but neither wanting to leave. 

Lorelai finally breaks the silence; "I should get home…see you tomorrow?" She asks, but doesn't wait for an answer turning and sprinting through the door, leaving a confused Luke looking after her.

She walks as quickly home as she did to the diner, her mind racing. _Why did I do that? What does it mean? What does Luke think? Well, if you wanted to know what he thought you could have asked him…but he wouldn't even look at you…_

She practically leaps up the stairs and into her house, collapsing onto the couch, too emotionally drained to attempt the stairs. She's curled up with a blanket and a tear-stained face when Rory finds her there the next morning. 

She's shaken awake by her daughter with little time to get ready for work, breakfast being out of the question Lorelai is silently relieved there won't be time to think about it. 

Before she knows it she's at work, Sookie's setting things on fire and Michel is avoiding customers, and Lorelai's mind is thankfully occupied with the day-to-day runnings that allow her to relax and breathe.

She knows Rory isn't home when she walks in the front door, the house is quiet, not unusual, but it feels empty. Lorelai knows she's going to have to get used to coming home to an empty house, but she isn't yet. 

She pulls her shoes off and walks into the kitchen. Getting a beer from the refridgerator, Lorelai sits at the kitchen table, playing the kiss over in her head trying to figure out what it means to her.

She's still sitting at the table, but now writing furiously when Rory comes home from Lane's house. "Hey mom, what are you doing?" 

Rory sits at the table across from Lorelai, her voice and presence pulling Lorelai out of the zone she's been in for the last two hours.

Looking up at her daughter she secretly covers the paper with her hands. "Hey sweets, have fun with Lane?" 

Lorelai begins to fold the paper as Rory recounts the afternoon she and Lane spent in the closet listening to music. "What were you writing?" 

Lorelai looks down sheepishly, "A pro/con list."


	6. dr rory

Rory looks at her mother strangely, "You're writing a pro/con list? About what?" 

"Nothing big, have fun at Lane's?" Lorelai rises from the table and starts to pour some coffee, grimacing from her sip, "this coffee is ice cold." 

"Lane's was good, MamaKim left us alone for almost an hour so I got to hear all about Dave and the band. Do you want to go grab dinner at Luke's, his coffee is always better than ours and I'm starving." 

Lorelai stops the preparations she has already started for coffee.

She turns and looks at Rory. "Sweetie, you know how I try to keep my love life separate from us, and you right?" 

Rory nods as Lorelai crosses and sits at the table with her. "Well, something unexpected happened and I need to bounce something off you, it's pretty much going to impact us no matter what." 

"What did you make out with Luke or something?" Rory asks laughing; she stops abruptly when she sees Lorelai's face. 

"You didn't? Now we can never eat there again, I told you this would happen." Rory starts looking through a stack of take-out menus. 

"Well Ror, that's not all, maybe it is I don't know, I'm so confused." Lorelai lays her head on the table out of frustration. 

Rory pats her mother's back. "Okay, the doctor is in, tell me everything and we'll figure it out like we did the dream." 

They move into the living room and spread out on the couch. Lorelai begins talking quickly. 

"Well, you know how I was upset about Luke spending all the time with his girlfriend and I got worried about him moving and Nicole running the diner and all the other crazy stuff. So I went to talk to him after you went to sleep the other night and after he assured me that everything would be fine and he would always be there. I gave him a hug and then before I knew it we were kissing and then it got more involved and then I ran out of the diner. Now here we are and I can't get it out of my head and I haven't had any diner coffee and I made a pro/con list."

Lorelai's eyes fill with tears and she puts her head in her hands. "Okay Mom, let's start with your list let me see it." 

Lorelai reluctantly pulls the list from her pocket and hands it over. "Cons first. 1. If it doesn't work will have nowhere to eat. 2. Luke has a girlfriend. 3. It's Luke. 

Pros: 1. Free diner food. 2. Free diner coffee. 3. Loves Rory. 4. Nice butt. 5. Looks good. 6. It's Luke. Okay Mom, the pros win, but I'm confused. You used its Luke twice as a pro and a con, explain."

Lorelai sits up and looks at Rory. "At first I thought it was bad, I mean its Luke. He knows everything horrible I've ever done; we've known each other so long it just seems weird. Then I thought it's Luke and we know each other so well and there would be no surprises. Then you came home and I decided to have a little breakdown with you. What do you think?" Rory pauses carefully before answering her mother.


	7. dream realizations

"Well mom, I think that you may have feelings for Luke and the sudden realization that Luke may make a permanent connection with Nicole is scaring you." Rory declares.

Lorelai looks at Rory, deep in thought. "I guess that explains why this all happened at once. I just don't know what to do."

Rory pats her mother's leg, "You can either pretend you never had this realization and hope things return to normal or talk to Luke about it and see if he wants to take things further. Either way you do have to clear the air with Luke, so we don't have to starve."

"You're right kiddo, I guess I have to decide now. How about pizza for dinner?" Lorelai looks at Rory hopefully.

Thirty minutes later, once the pizza had been demolished, Lorelai leaves Rory alone to study and goes upstairs to sort out her feelings. 

_Okay Lorelai, here goes. What do you want to do about this? On one hand, you can pretend this never happened chalk it up to late night hysterics and leave things as they are. _

On the other hand, you can go tell Luke that you have suddenly developed feelings for him and want to see where this could lead. What do I want to do?

You know what really sucks about this is that the one things I really need right now to help me through this is a cup of Luke's coffee.

Lorelai giggles to herself and stretches out more on her bed, "Okay, time to focus." 

Lorelai takes a deep breath and settles back onto a pillow, before she knows it she falls into a restless sleep.

She wakes up a little later, pale and sweaty. Her dream was realistic, she saw the diner and it seemed like a normal day but when she went in everything was different.

Luke as behind the counter and Nicole was in the kitchen cooking. The diner menu was entirely healthy and Luke didn't even remember Lorelai's name.

She gets out of bed quickly, sure of what she has to do and runs down the stairs and out the front door, stopping only for her shoes.

She gets to the diner and she sees that it's busy, but goes in anyway. 

Luke looks up as she enters, his face looks both hopeful and confused, and he quickly nods to her and looks away to help his customers.

She sits at the counter alone and absentmindedly looks at the new menu Nicole convinced Luke to get. 

She's startled when a cup of coffee is placed in front of her, she looks up to see Luke with an order pad.

"What can I get you today?" He asks, not quite looking at her, his pen poised on the pad. 

Lorelai resolves her courage before she speaks, "Um nothing, I already ate. I really just wanted to talk to you if you had a minute."

Luke's face reddens and he looks around before answering. "Sure, give me about ten minutes." Lorelai nods as he turns toward other customers. 

She is sipping her coffee idly when he comes back. "Okay, let's talk." 

Lorelai shakes her head as she sets her coffee down. "Upstairs." He looks at her oddly, "Miss Patty is eating by the window." 

He nods knowingly and follows her upstairs to his apartment.


	8. running late

When they get upstairsLuke crosses to the kitchen table and sits, motioning Lorelai to do the same.

"I can't sit, I just need to talk and get this out while I still can." Lorelai is pacing nervously, going over her words in her head.

"Okay, here goes. The other night was crazy, I was having a patented Lorelai Gilmore flip out and I took it out here." She crossed to Luke as he started to speak.

"Let me finish, I think that it meant something. I think this freak out may have helped me." She sits across the table from Luke.

Luke looks at her questioningly, hope dancing in the back of his eyes. 

"I think it helped me open my eyes to simple facts about my life. Things are changing, Rory is leaving for school, I'm opening my own inn, and Sookie is having a baby. Change is not a bad thing. Kissing you helped me see what I've been avoiding. By focusing on keeping things the same I've avoided putting myself at risk, but I've got to now, because nothing is staying the same no matter what."

Lorelai stands up and walks around the table to Luke, she takes his face in her hands and kisses him, tentatively at first. 

As it progesses Luke pulls her to him, rising from his chair. Like their first kiss nights ago in the diner before they know it the kiss has taken them over.

They move together and lean heavily against the closed door, neither of them wanting to stop to breathe. Luke breaks the silence.

"Lorelai, what's going on?" She looks up at him, his eyes clouded, hers penetrating. She takes a breath before answering.

"It means, I've been thinking a lot the past few days, about what the other night meant, about what I wanted it to mean and I came to the conclusion that there was a deeper meaning to it all."

She steps away from Luke and sits back at the table, "The real reason I was so hung up on keeping things the same was because I was afraid of losing you and this. I've been fighting for years to keep our relationship the same because I was afraid of losing it. Now I realize it has to change before I lose it anyway."

Luke sits across from Lorelai, looking slightly dumbfounded. "Lore, I don't know what to say now, or do even. This is all a bit surprising to me." 

"I know Luke, I am springing this all on you. I'm not expecting anything from you right now, I just needed to put this out there and open the door, if you want it. I know you're happy with Nicole and this is the worst possible time for me to have this miraculous realization. I'm going to go, it's late. I'll be around when you're ready."

Lorelai leaves quickly, rising and crossing to the door, she's gone before Luke can say a word.

When she gets home she can hear the stereo in Rory's room and pokes her head in to see her reading on her bed.

"Hey babe, I'm going to head up to bed. Al's for breakfast?" 

Rory grimaces, "I guess things didn't go well with Luke?"

Lorelai shakes her head, "It went fine, I just want to give him time, I gave him a lot of info in a short amount of time." She turns to leave.

The next morning, after a fitful night of sleep, Lorelai is making coffee in the kitchen. "Rory, we're running really late, I'm putting in some pop-tarts for breakfast."

Her preparations are stopped when she hears a knock at the door. She pushes the toaster down and speeds over to the door.

She pauses only when she sees Luke stading in the doorway, "Certainly didn't expect you this morning. Come in, Rory and I are running supremely late this morning, I overslept." 

They walk into the kitchen, Luke pulling to coffee cups from behind him as Lorelai turns back towards him. Her eyes light up when she sees the cup and she motions for him to sit down. 

Rory bounds out of her bedroom, her eyes widen when she sees Luke at the table, he hands her a cup of coffee. "Thanks, you're the best. Mom, I'm going to take my pop-tarts to go, I've got to catch the bus." 

"So Lucas, what brings you to our fair house this morning?" Lorelai asks trying to be her usual self, but failing miserably.

"I did a lot of thinking last night and I wanted to get it all out in the open, so to speak." 

Lorelai sits down across from him, coffee in hand. Luke continues.

"After you left I sat upstairs thinking about what you said and what I thought about it. Nicole called and I talked to her for awhile."

Lorelai knits her brow, her mouth tightening at the mention of Nicole.

"Then I just sat up, going over things in my head and I came to a realization."

Lorelai looks at him expectantly, her heart racing as he looks up at her.

"Nicole and I have been dating for a few months now, we're comfortable with each other." Luke watches her face fall, "but I've never felt the same with her as I do with you, so if you still mean what you said last night, I'd like to try." 

Lorelai grins as she leans forward and kisses Luke in response. Her smile widens as she moves around the table and sits in Luke's lap. "I still do." 

After a few minutes, Luke pulls away, "Weren't you saying something about running late for work?" 

Lorelai pulls him into the living room and onto the couch, "Michel can handle it." With that, she pulls him in for another kiss.


End file.
